tuOMas

SOLD

Hello, Been busy for a while, but yesterday had some time with the box and made a little progress. It turned out that switching the polarity of my PSU fixed something in the box. All the menu buttons work now(exec, left, right, snapshot) and I can move around the menu and make changes. The pots work with no problems like before, but now I'm getting jitter from some of the buttons. This shows as constant midi events in MIOS studio, and in the leds that are connected to the jittering buttons via the DOUT shiftregister mapping tool in the midibox64 editor. The leds are flashing, but when a connected button is pressed they stop flashing while the button is held down. Does this imply a soldering mistake? A grounding issue? What causes DIN jitter? Would it be of any help if you guys could see the list of random events the box is sending? And how could I get those events "printed" from MIOS studio? Thanks, and as always, any help is highly appreciated! -Tuomas EDIT: attached a pic of the midi events coming out of the box... EDIT 2: All the buttons work, but some of them also jitter. I will try to find out if this has anything to do with any specific shift registers.

Hello, So, after some testing and checking, I've found out that I've made an embarrassing mistake earlier on. I'm using a split cable for the connection between the CORE and DIN/DOUT modules. Somehow I connected these two wrong, so DIN was connected to where DOUT should be and viceversa. I'm telling you this, because it might be important. The DIN and DOUT connections are identical, except for that middle pin. Is there a possibility that I broke something, when I made the wrong connection? I've switched the cables now and got SOME buttons working. After powering up, I get the Copyright/version number. After that I get something that looks like this: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 0 0 0 0 x x x x 0 0 0 0 x x x x The x's are jittering and that doesn't feel right. The button that I have connected to the "EXECUTE" pin, works and after pressing that, I get the text: SAMPLE BANK DISPLAY. The left and right and the SNAPSHOT buttons do not work. Some buttons light up a led, while others dont do anything. MIOS Studio is getting random midisignals, similarily to when AIN inputs are not grounded. So, I'm making progress, but not sure if it's of the good kind. :) Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated. -Tuomas

Hi, guys The box is running stable now, powerwise that is. I got a new adjustable voltage PSU, and 9 volts with 1,5 amps seems to work ok. Still no luck with the buttons...I checked connections and they all seem fine. Don't really know what to do with them... -Tuomas

Hi, I fixed the pot polarity, but now for some reason 4 of the pots still have inverted values that show up on the LCD. Will look into that... Buttons still not working...I fixed the leaking ground issue, and made sure that the buttons have the star-grounding in bundles of 8. What could it be? maybe something wrong with the din modules? The power issue is still there also, I think I need more current, since I'm using 24 leds and a backlit LCD. Anything else then insufficient current, that could be causing the leds and LCD to "blink"? That's it for now, any help would be really appreciated. :) -Tuomas (edit) Forgot to mention, when I powered up the box after fixing the stuff I mentioned, it seemed to go on a bit longer before the leds started blinking. And right before the blinking, there were some random midi messages on the LCD, similarly to when AIN inputs are open. Just thought it might be worth mentioning.

Hi guys, I completed the assembly of my midibox today! I fired it up and the leds lit up. First thing i noticed, was that the pots and faders worked, but the pots were sending inverted values(I was sure I had the polarity right...) The buttons did not seem to do anything...should pressing a button show on the LCD? I did not have time to do much testing, but I noticed that the frontpanel might be grounded accidentally, through the button assemblys panel screws. Could this be the reason that the buttons dont work? Also, after 2 minutes or so after powering the box, the leds and the LCD started "jittering". Could this be a power problem, or perhaps something else? I will send a few pics in couple of hours. -Tuomas (edit) sorry for the crappy pics, will take better ones, when I can borrow a decent camera.

I'll be going to a festival for the weekend, so the box will have to wait for a few days. :) Here's some more pics. Have a nice weekend everyone! -Tuomas

What's up guys! I received the panel couple of weeks ago, and after a quick inspection, began attaching components. I had been very anxious about everything fitting nicely, and was pleased to notice that only the hole for the LCD needed a little bit of sanding to fit the module. Otherwise I am very pleased with the panels. Great quality. The week I've spent building a wooden case for the midibox. I got some old oak from my father, thats been drying since the 70's, and used that to build the case. I'm not fully satisfied with it, mainly bacause I had to finish it at home, where I dont have proper tools. But it turned out ok anyway. I just lacquered the box, and it's drying, but here are a few shots before staining and lacquer. There's also two bad shots showing the frontpanel assembly, or the point where I've gotten it. Next up, is fitting the modules inside the box and finishing the wiring between the modules and the panel. -Tuomas

I was reading this: http://www.midibox.org/users/tor_arne/midibox64_walkthrough/potsbuttons.html And on the bottom it says to bundle the buttons in the same way as the pots. I think I will go with the bundles. It's a bit more work, but I want to be sure everything works nicely. That tutorial is like 10 years old, so maybe the soft/firmware has improved since? hmmm...what would TK do? :) Thanks! -Tuomas

Hi Pilo! Haha! "Weller, from father to son." that could be the companys motto! Thanks for the help, I'm guessing it's the same deal with leds? I started thinking about this after reading about the "starlike" wiring of the potentiometers. So, only the pots need this special treatment? Thanks for the help really appreciate it! -Tuomas Hi Dubmixmaster, I have not yet tried the midibox with any DAW software. But I will post my findings when I do. :) I do not know about Cubase, I have only used the LE version and that was like 5 years ago. Nice to see there are others who are into dub music. :) -Tuomas

Hi guys, Got my front- and rearpanels last week, and im almost ready with the frontpanel's assembly. One stupid question came up though: When looking at this PDF - http://ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_dinx4_32buttons.pdf - I get the feeling that I can only connect 16 buttons in one "bundle". This seems weird, but in the pdf there is one groundline for every 16 buttons. So, do I have to bundle the buttons in groups of 16 as shown in the PDF, or can the same groundline run thru all the 64 buttons? Thanks! -Tuomas

That's exactly what I meant! You said it better than I. :) Thanks for clearing that up. Now I can get back to work. cheers, -Tuomas

Hi Stuart. I'll have to look into the ControlSurface Scripts, thanks. Will both of these be an option, if I just go ahead and connect the leds to the dout module? cheers, -Tuomas

Cakewalk Sonar 8 and Ableton live 8 lite.

Hi guys, I'm ready to order my frontplate, but there is still one thing I'm not sure about. I'd like to have leds that show if a mute/solo button is pushed. I understand one way would be a midi message from the computer that turns on the led, but I'm not sure my DAW supports this. So, would it be possible to have the led toggle on and off, everytime the button is pushed, without incoming midi message? Can the MB64 program do this or would I need to make some kind of a circuit for the leds & buttons? I hope you understand what I mean. :) I tried searching, but could not find an answer. cheers, -Tuomas

DIY connectors, a push-button assembly, and my fathers old Weller from the 80's. :)

Hi Jojjelito. Thanks for the help, I will go with 3mm thickness. Here is the panel design if you are interested. cheers, -Tuomas frontpanel.pdf

Hi everyone! Update since last time: I received the faders and all is well under the sun. :) I have finished all the modules and started to do some of the wiring. I went ahead and powered up the core, and I get 5V in all the right spots! I used an old AC/DC wall adaptor which outputs 12V DC and 500mA. Is the voltage too high? I only kept the core powered for a minute or two, and atleast in that time the regulator did not heat up. So i guess i can use this as a power supply? I'm going for Schaeffer for my panel and one thing has been bothering me. If for example a potentiometer shaft is 8mm in diameter, is 8,1mm hole in the panel enough or should I go for 8,2mm? I have never tried to design anything like this before. And what about the thickness? Is 2mm enough? So, next up is connecting the LCD, right? What about the din and ain modules? should i connect them to the core first and try powering up without the pic? I don't have any enclosure yet, so perhaps I should wait until I can build the box for it. I'm just a bit worried about short-circuiting, if I dont have the modules attached to something. Lot's of questions, but I just wan't to make sure I don't mess anything up. :) Getting really excited now, can't wait to finish this project! Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help! -Tuomas

Just realized that reichelt ships internationally, and placed an order for alps stereo faders. I always thought since their site is in german, they would not ship to Finland. :unsure: Feel a bit stupid now...should have looked a bit further into their site months ago... I'll update when I receive the order. -Tuomas

Hello again, It's been a while since my last post and things have not gone exactly as I planned. I went and ordered the rest of the components from mouser.com and digikey.com. I received all the parts, but soon noticed that the faders were not the ones I had ordered. They had mislabeled some faders at their warehouse and sent me the wrong ones. After more than a month of corresponding with the techsupport of mouser.com, it turned out that they never had the part I needed. I had a slight problem with the pots and their knobs aswell. The knobs would not fit on the shaft of the pots, so i had to use small files to make the holes larger. So, I'm still looking for the faders with these specs: - 60mm travel - 10kOhm linear resistance taper - T-bar type lever for attaching the knobs - panelmount/holes for screws I have seen people using faders with similar specs but have not been able to find any, and I was hoping that someone here could help me out and point me in the right direction. I'm way behind the schedule I planned when I started this, but still very motivated to go through with it. I just need the faders, so I can finish my frontpanel design and get back to working with this project. Thanks everyone, p.s. Is it possible to edit the title of the thread? -Tuomas

Hi Technobreath! Thanks for the clarification on the caps. And I'll be sure to insulate the legs someway, thanks for the heads-up. Cheers, -Tuomas

Hello everyone! I've been thinking about building a midibox since I found this website last year, and finally decided it was time to get things going. I went and ordered the midibox64-kit from Mike's and started soldering last week. The layout that I have now consists of 12 faders, 52 pots, 32 switches and maybe leds. The box's main function will be to control the console/mixer in my DAW software. I make dub reggae influenced music, and the hands-on control that this box will give me, will make spontaneous live dub mixing possible for me. I will also use it to control soft synths and transport. This is what I have: Finished modules: Core x1 AIN x2 DIN x1 DOUT x1 (one DIN, DOUT and LTC still in package) 2x16 LCD This is what i need: Faders x12 Pots x52 Switches x32 leds frontpanel from Schaeffer to build a wooden case When it comes to parts, I'm a bit lost. While I'm not a total beginner in electronics, I've never done anything like this and would really appreciate some help. Here are some parts I've been considering. I would really appreciate if someone could check them out and maybe give a comment. Alps faders, these seem nice but are quite pricey. They will propably see alot of use tho, so maybe it's not a good idea to cheap out on the faders. Mouser link BI technologies potentiometers. Has anyone used these pots? How is the feel? I want to use panelmount pots, so if anyone can recommend good inexpensive panelmount pots that would be nice. Mouser link Switches. I found these and these. I've been looking for panel mount ones to make the assembly easier, but there doesn't seem to be much to choose from. Would these be ok? Leds. I'm still not sure if I'm going to use them. It would be nice to have leds indicating muted and soloed tracks, but if I understand correctly the software/DAW has to send a midi signal to the midibox for this to work. Is this hard to achieve? Does it need some extra software/code between the DAW and midibox? I have attached a close-up(sorry about the bad quality) pic of one of the AIN-boards. Do the By-pass caps look like they are in the correct spot? I was a bit confused when the instructions said: "as close to the +5V power input of the 4051 as possible". So I soldered them in the same pin as the +5 of the 4051. Is that correct? That's it for now. I'm really excited about this whole project and can't wait to order the rest of the parts. Big thanks to the whole community for making this possible! Cheers! -Tuomas